Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone made his frustrations known following the Nuggets’ 145-118 home loss to the New York Knicks on Monday night.

When asked by a reporter if he planned to “wash away” the loss and move on quickly due to its one-sided nature, he made it clear that the poor performance was something he would dwell on instead.

“F–k that guy, no,” said Malone. “No, we don’t flush. You don’t flush if you’re embarrassed, you don’t flush if you’ve given up 145 points, you don’t flush if you haven’t played hard, haven’t played with effort, physicality, I don’t flush anything.”

The Knicks raced out to a 12-point lead in the first quarter, which ballooned to 23 at halftime, a deficit Denver never came close to.

New York dominated in virtually every facet, shooting a remarkable 60.9 percent from the field and 52.8 percent from three-point range while also making 14 of its 16 free throw attempts.

The Knicks also won the rebounding battle 43-33, had 45 assists to Denver’s 23 and had nine turnovers to Denver’s 11.

Malone gave veteran guard Russell Westbrook some credit for his play, but he also called out the team’s two best and longest-tenured players: Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray:

“Well, yeah, I mean, like Russell Westbrook, he’s vocal, but we need more than Russell Westbrook. I need Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray, I need guys who have been here in the starting lineup to be vocal .And you know, tonight we felt ashamed.

“We’re sixteen games in and we’re talking about effort, we’re talking about strength, we’re talking about physicality. And regardless of who’s in, who’s out, who do we want to be as a team? So yeah, leadership would be great, strength would be great, physicality would be great, playing like you really cared would be great, and we didn’t do that tonight.”

Both Jokić and Murray played pivotal roles in the Nuggets winning the NBA championship two seasons ago, and Jokić is a three-time NBA MVP, but Malone didn’t absolve them of blame.

While Westbrook led the team Monday with 27 points on 9-for-16 shooting, Jokić finished with 22 points on 9-for-20 shooting and Murray had 20 points on 6-for-13 shooting.

The loss dropped Denver to a disappointing 9-7 on the season, leaving it tied for seventh in the Western Conference with the Phoenix Suns.

After a five-game winning streak, the Nuggets have now lost four of their past six games. The end of the winning streak coincided with Jokić missing three matches due to personal reasons, but he was back for the past three matches, two of which were losses.

The Knicks, who are now 10-7, have put together perhaps their best performance of the season and have now won five of their past six games, making them one of the hottest teams in the NBA.

Denver will get one more chance to get back on track before a three-game break before Thanksgiving, as it will hit the road to face the 4-12 Utah Jazz on Wednesday.